Room attendants, cooks, cleaning staff and other workers at 34 hotels across Southern California including the Anaheim Hilton and Irvine Marriott will get a $5 pay raise this summer amid one of the largest hotel strikes in recent history.
On Monday, officials with Unite Here Local 11, a union representing hotel workers in the region, announced that 98% of workers at the 34 hotels voted to ratify the new contract about eight months after workers first hit the picket line demanding better pay in a rotating series of strikes.
The rotating waves of strikes – where workers at a host of hotels hit the picket line for a couple of days and return to work, then workers at other hotels follow – started on July 4th weekend last year as workers demanded a $5 increase to help cover rising housing costs.
[Read: Southern California Hotel Workers Go on Strike For Better Pay]
Many cities rely on tourism for tax dollars – especially taxes on hotel rooms.
Ada Briceño, co-president of the union, said in a Tuesday morning interview workers are excited about the new wages
“When we fight, we win,” she said. “It’s exciting to see that our members are going to be able to live where they work in many of the cases this fight was around the high cost of housing. We needed an increase and we got some incredible increases.”
Pete Hillan, a spokesperson for the California Hotel & Lodging Association, said in an emailed statement Tuesday that ratification of the contracts were a longtime coming.
“We’re glad that hotel employees who have been waiting months now can enjoy the benefits of new contracts, including increased compensation, and continue the great work they do for our guests and our communities,” reads the statement.
Contracts have been ratified at the Costa Mesa Hilton, Irvine Hilton and the Laguna Cliffs Marriott in Dana Point.
Under the new 4-year contracts, workers will start making $5 more an hour starting this summer and make $10 more an hour by the end of the contract in January 2028.
Union officials say this will be a up to a 50% wage increase for workers over the term of the contract.
The new contracts also restores mandatory daily room cleaning that was paused during the pandemic, guarantees a return to pre-pandemic staffing levels, and Juneteenth will become a new paid holiday for workers.
Despite this, strikes and boycotts are continuing with union officials stating that there are still 30 hotels where a contract agreement has not been ratified.
One of those includes the Sheraton Park in Anaheim – a hotel run by Aimbridge Hospitality.
Earlier this month, workers at the Sheraton Park rallied against sexual harassment and protested how the company handles workplace harassment concerns.
[Read: Hotel Workers Rally in Anaheim Against Alleged Sexual Harassment]
In January, the union launched a boycott of Aimbridge hotels – dubbed “Shamebridge” – because they say the company refused to agree to a contract comparable to a host of other ones signed by hotels across OC and Los Angeles.
Briceño said a contract has not been ratified for workers there.
Workers at the Embassy Suites in Irvine have also not ratified a contract.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
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